India's first ever fencer in Olympics, C A Bhavani Devi, loses to France's Manon Brunet

According to a report by PTI, India's first ever fencer in the Olympics, C A Bhavani Devi, lasted two rounds at the Games, her historic maiden appearance ending with a loss to world number three Manon Brunet in the women's individual sabre event.

The 27-year-old began her campaign with a confident 15-3 win against Tunisia's Nadia Ben Azizi but bumped into Rio Olympics semifinalist Frenchwoman Brunet in the next round, which she lost 7-15.

The sabre is the fastest of the fencing competitions in which opponents can slash anywhere above the waist. The fencer who touches the 15 point-mark first is declared the winner. In the other two events -- foil and epee -- only the tip of the sword can be used to target the opponent.

Bhavani said "staying away from family and missing normal life" was the sacrifice she had to make to live her dream. "I train in Italy. It is worth it and it is my family's dream, too, so I am happy," she said, adding that she worked on her basic footwork at her terrace during the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

Bhavani's aggression yielded points against Azizi but French Brunet used all her experience to negate the tactics of the Indian, who lost two points for going out of the arena. Brunet was sharp and had a better technique as she scored points from distance.

In pic: French woman Manon Brunet